Hey so just to let you all know Amanda was taken to a clinic in Selcuk (Seljuck), and she got some medicine so she is feeling a ton better!!!!! Praise the Lord!!!!!!
Nate (Ephesus)
So we spent a day at the capital of the ancient providence of Asia!!!! It was ridiculously cool!!!! There was so many sweet things there. We walked down streets that the apostles would have walked. We sat in the Theater where the silversmiths of Ephesus started a riot in opposition to Paul in Acts 19. We also went into the ruins of an old brothel, where I was given a opportunity of telling a story from my life, where God used His word to greatly impact me. They all really appreciated my openness, and I hope God used it in a powerful way. We were also able to walk on the harbor road, and see one of the biggest bath complexes in the Roman Empire. We saw the neokorus (epicenter) of the Emperor worship. It was a challenging day the main questions we looked at was, the source of Truth, and it doesn't matter what talents or skills you have to offer God, because He chooses people based on there character!
Rachel and Kendall (Priene, Didyma, and Miletus)
So the first place we stopped at on Monday was Priene which was a port city in the first century but the reason we studied it was to learn how the first century Christians lived amongst the immoral culture of the first century Asia Minor aka Turkey. Though we never got to see an actual house church we did see a house synagogue which was very similar to a house church. Right beside the synagogue was a fourth century church, which was saddening because the difference in how Christians viewed their faith; they went from a community to a hierarchy which isnt the way God intended the Christian walk to be like. The site also challenged us to not compromise our faith and to live in community. In the first century Christians couldnt do anything because to vote or serve on the council or even sell goods they would have to sacrifice to the one of the gods, since they didnt compromise their faith and lived in a community God blessed them.
Didyma was pretty awesome. We learned about Apollo's temple where an oracle supposedly told the future. People would pay tons of money and stay in the temple for weeks, possibly months, just to hear a sentence from their god. The oracle was an old woman high off of some fumes she sat on top of. She would utter strange mumblings and the priests would "interpret" them and then tell the specific person waiting for the word. These were supposedly the words of Apollo. We talked about how much these people would give up just for the chance to hear a couple words from Apollo. We have an entire Bible sitting on our shelf straight from our God who actually exists and loves us, but how many times do we push it aside or don't make time to read it?
Paul actually visited Miletus in the Bible!! We saw the exact spot where he would have sailed from and talked to the Ephesian Elders in Acts. Paul had tremendous faith in giving the church up to God and letting him take control. Also, Paul was willing to sail away from Ephesus even though all he knew was that tough times were ahead. He didn't even know where he was going, but he trusted God completely!! Paul is such a great role model :)
Jenna [Aphrodisias]
Today we left Selcuk around 8 am, with the plan to stop in Aphrodisias for around an hour or two. Hah. Turns out God had other plans, as our team was there for... ehh, four hours or so. All of it was fantastic teaching and applications!--we just got cranky around 3 pm since we wanted lunch. ;)
HOWEVER the lesson was well worthwhile. Nearing the end of our time, we visited massive ruins of a 1st century stadium, where races and mock naval battles would occur. Here we found a pile of stones, left by previous teams at the foot of the VIP seats. Mulv encouraged us to take ourselves, everything we are, and lay it at Jesus' feet symbolically before running a lap of our own around the overgrown track. For we are the runners here on earth, running the race of life, and around us are the cloud of witnesses cheering us on, with victory in Christ waiting at the end. A powerful analogy for the entire team.
Tomorrow are three different sites, which will be one of our longest days. Better head to bed! Thanks again for all of your prayers and encouragement <3
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